This month, I traveled to Barcelona to participate in IFLA’s (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) Global Vision Kickoff. This two-day meeting, followed by a two-day workshop, helped to confirm the united goals of IFLA’s global community, and our joint commitment to the value and growth of librarianship and libraries.
Monthly Archives: March 2018
New Books in the Science Libraries
New books have been added to the Chemistry-Biology, Geology-Math-Physics, and Langsam Libraries.
Click here to access the January-February 2018 list.
If you have any questions, contact Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries.
Do you Haiku?
In honor of National Poetry Month, the Clermont College Library is sponsoring its 7th Annual Haiku Contest beginning March 28.
You must be a Clermont College student to participate. Write up to 3 haiku and submit them for a chance to win a $50 gift card. Professors Phoebe Reeves and Cassie Fetters will serve as our judges.
Read the complete contest guidelines: http://guides.libraries.uc.edu/clermont-poetry/haiku
Submit haiku here: Haiku submissions
The entry deadline is April 13th.
Go forth and haiku!
Penny McGinnis
Technical Services Manager
UCBA Faculty Share Research at Lightning Talks
by Lauren Wahman
The UCBA Library was excited to host its first Lightning Talks on Thursday, March 22. Three faculty showcased their current research through informal, 15-minute presentations. Attendees had the opportunity Continue reading
Hungry? Bite into an Edible Book with UC Libraries
Me Cookie
The University of Cincinnati Libraries will celebrate the International Edible Books Festival with an event scheduled from 1-2 p.m., Tuesday, April 3, in the fifth floor lobby of Langsam Library.
At the event, a record 26 participants will present their edible creations that represent a book in some form. There are few restrictions in creating an edible book — namely that the creation be edible and have something to do with a book. Submitted entries include edible titles such as “Dragons Love Tacos” and “How to Eat Fried Worms.” Best sellers “The Help” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” are represented along with favorite children’s books “The Poky Little Puppy,” “Humpty Dumpty” and “Curious George at the Baseball Game,” among other literary greats. This year’s event will even feature two mother-daughter teams.
Interested in creating an edible book? E-mail melissa.norris@uc.edu by Tuesday, March 27 with your name and the title of your creation.
As in past years, entries will be judged according to such categories as “Most Literary,” “Most Delicious,” “Most Adorable” and “Most Gruesome.” In addition, the “Top Student Entry” and “Best Overall Entry” will receive a special prize. After the entries are judged they will be consumed and enjoyed by all in attendance.
According to the International Edible Book Festival website, the edible book was initiated by librarian and artist Judith A. Hoffberg during a 1999 Thanksgiving celebration with book artists. It became an international celebration in 2000 when artist Béatrice Coron launched the Books2Eat website. Traditionally, the event is celebrated on April 1 (April Fools’ Day) to mark the birthday of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), a French lawyer and politician who became famous for his book, Physiologie du gout (The Physiology of Taste). You can see images of the 2017 edible books on the Libraries Facebook page.
The Libraries International Edible Books Festival is free and open to the public. It is sponsored in part by Books by the Banks: Cincinnati Regional Book Festival. Come to celebrate (and eat) “books good enough to eat.”
Ira Abrahamson Jr., M.D.
Well, we lost another one. It is with sadness that we report the passing of our friend Dr. Ira Abrahamson, Jr. last Saturday, March 10.
At Ira’s home, June 2017
Personally, it is Dr. Abrahamson’s humor and amiability that I will remember most–so just a quick story before the more formal obituary, which I hope Ira would appreciate.
I had only been at the Winkler Center about two weeks when Dr. Abrahamson showed up with several family members to see his collection and the small exhibit we have on his life and career. I was nervous meeting my first Winkler Center donor, but he immediately set me at ease. He reminded me that the hand of his I had just shaken was a hand also shaken by two popes from whom he had received papal blessings (he had the photographs to prove it). He then tried to convince me that the blessings bestowed on him by those pontiffs now had been conferred on me. I said “if that’s the case, then give me your other hand so I can shake it…why leave anything to chance?” He laughed. I felt better. We would share jokes from that point forward whenever he would visit the Winkler bringing in more materials or just friends with whom to share his many accomplishments. We’ll miss him.
The following obituary was sent to all faculty/staff of the College of Medicine on Wednesday, March 14. It is reprinted here with permission from the UC College of Medicine Dean’s Office.
Dr. Abrahamson attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a swimming scholarship. He received his medical degree from the UC College of Medicine in 1948, as did his sister, Margaret, in 1946 and his son, Richard, in 1987. He completed his internship at Cincinnati General Hospital and his residency at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. He served for a year in the U.S. Coast Guard and then in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953 during the Korean War. Following military service, he returned to his native Cincinnati to practice with his father, Ira Abrahamson Sr., MD, who also was an ophthalmologist and on faculty at the College of Medicine.
A member of our faculty since 1964, Dr. Abrahamson rose to full professor before being named an emeritus professor in 2004.
Dr. Abrahamson became one of the first ophthalmic photographers in the world and invented several techniques to photograph the eye. Many of his images were used in his books on ophthalmology and eye care. He also traveled around the world lecturing, teaching and providing vision care to disadvantaged children.
Dr. Abrahamson received numerous honors in his lifetime, including the College of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008 and the President’s Award of Excellence in 2014 from the University of Cincinnati. In 2001 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of North Carolina, and in 2000 he was named an Outstanding Philanthropist by Boston Children’s Hospital. He was inducted into the Medical Mission Hall of Fame in 2007 for his contributions to advancing the quality of life of others around the world. He even had audiences with three popes: Pius XII, Paul VI and John Paul II.
Dr. Abrahamson had a tremendous impact on vision care, education and research for more than 60 years. He worked tirelessly to eliminate preventable blindness in children, not only here in Cincinnati but around the world. In 1995, he created the Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute at Cincinnati Children’s. Working with the Cincinnati Rotary Club, the institute started the Vision Screening Program through Rotary International where 800 local chapters eventually joined in the program to detect vision problems in young children.
“Declaring that the street currently knowns as Shillito Place shall hereby receive the honorary secondary name of “Dr. Ira Abrahamson Way by legislative action of the May and City Council in honor…” Dr. Abrahamson getting his street, October, 2016
Dr. Abrahamson receives the University of Cincinnati President’s Award for Excellence from previous UC President, Santa Ono, 2014
Introducing BenchSci
The University of Cincinnati Libraries is pleased to present BenchSci to the UC research community.
Registration is free to all scientists with a uc.edu or affiliated institutional emails at https://www.benchsci.com
BenchSci is a online platform designed to help scientists find antibody data in publications. Their proprietary machine-learning algorithm was trained by PhD-level scientists to identify and understand the usage of commercial antibodies in the research literature.
When searching for a specific protein target, BenchSci curates published data in the form of figures to simplify the literature search process. The figures can then be filtered by specific experimental contexts cited in the paper such as techniques, tissue, cell lines, and more, to help users pinpoint antibodies that have been published under experimental conditions matching their study interest.
For more information about BenchSci, please refer to this article: https://blog.benchsci.com/7-features-to-find-antibodies
To learn how to navigate BenchSci, please watch this short video: https://youtu.be/EFaDwTtqlv4
For further inquiries or feedback, contact Maurice Shen, the Head of Academic Relations at BenchSci, at maurice@benchsci.com
From the Desk of … Michelle McKinney
I’m Michelle McKinney, Reference and Web Services Librarian for the UCBA Library. I’m usually behind the camera for the From the Desk Of… posts but it’s time for me to switch gears and welcome you to my office space. There’s no rhyme or reason to my set-up or decor. I like being surrounded by photos of family and friends. I’ve also started displaying a few of the gazillion art projects that my sons create. It’s not unusual to come across small toys that have accidentally ended up in my purse during our hectic mornings.
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- This is where you can normally find me working on the library’s website or other related web space. I’m on call to answer research questions which is why I have the pager.
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- A wide shot of my desk showing some of the photos, posters and trinkets atop my hutch.
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- I’m a crafter and it carries over into the office in the form of bullet journaling. I have a collection of pens, markers and washi tape that I use. I also have lots of photos of my boys along with their art on my bulletin board.
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- I like to use my whiteboard for positive and funny quotes. They come in handy on those rare days when things get rough.
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- I’m a crafter and it carries over into the office in the form of bullet journaling. I have a collection of pens, markers and washi tape that I use.
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- My small collection of bookish buttons and pins.
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- You can’t fully see my lone bamboo shoot but I’ve kept it alive for a surprisingly long time. My mother brought me the wooden Jeepney from her trip home to the Philippines. I picked up the Nuts about Libraries nut while on at a library conference in San Diego and the beautiful decorative egg was given to me by math professor, Natalia Darling.
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- A few trinkets on my bookshelf. UCBA swag, my Spectrum Scholars bear, my library coasters and my old name plate from my office in our former library space.
Service Note: Library Catalog Unavailable 5-6am, March 15
FREE Conference: Precision Genomics Midwest, May 11, 2018
From making a diagnosis to tailoring treatment to an individual to someday curing disease, precision genomics is having a profound impact on healthcare.
Cincinnati Children’s Center for Pediatric Genomics and the University of Cincinnati launched Precision Genomics Midwest last year to bring genomic education to the Midwest. Often, clinicians and researchers don’t have the time to attend large national events, but they still need to learn about how genomics will be integrated into clinical care; about genomic technologies; and ongoing research in the field.
This one-day, free event – May 11 at the Kingsgate Marriott on the University of Cincinnati campus – is packed full of education on topics relevant to clinicians, researchers, pharmacists, genetic counselors, lab managers, nurses, and students.
Highlights include:
- The whole day is free, including lunch.
- Two keynotes: Dan Kastner, MD, PhD, Scientific Director at the National Human Research Genome Institute, and Mike Murray, MD, Director of Clinical Genomics at Geisinger Health System.
- A new Bioinformatics track, with breakouts in clinical and research genome bioinformatics
- Break-out sessions including genomics in the clinic, pharmacogenomics, epigenetics, and ethical, legal, and social implications of genomics.
- A panel discussion on Innovative Genomic Therapeutics: Is Gene Editing or Gene Therapy the Answer to Curing Human Disease?
- The largest exhibitor fair in the Midwest, featuring more than 30 vendors and sponsors.
- A networking cocktail hour to finish the day.
Precision Genomics Midwest rapidly is becoming the Midwest’s premier precision medicine conference, by attracting regional attendance and national speakers while simultaneously showcasing talent from UC and Cincinnati Children’s. The inaugural year had nearly 360 registrants from more than 25 different institutions across the Midwest.
Cincinnati Children’s and UC College of Medicine are co-sponsoring the free conference. Other contributing partners include the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, University of Cincinnati Libraries, and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training.
PGM is free, but space is limited. For the agenda, registration, and exhibitor prospectus, go to www.cincinnatichildrens.org/pgm. For updates, follow @CincyKidsGenomX on Twitter.